The Fleece Job (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Chapter 34: I die while my doctor makes out with death

Jason

"Stay back," Hugh has his baseball bat. The thing only has one head left. I grab my chainsaw and run with him to the edge. Penny hurries back to protect the others.

"Stay up there—," I tell Peter and Frankie.

"What is that thing?" she asks.

"Hydra, we have to cut off it's heads," I say, starting my chainsaw, but tripping over the sword.

"I think that the puppy is lonely," Ev observes, grabbing the chainsaw before I fall on it.

"Damned thing," I say, picking up the sword.

"One head—let's do this Cass," Hugh says, climbing over the edge of the ship.

Ev, Hugh, and I all three leap off the edge of the ship and onto the Hydra's back.

Ev uses the chainsaw to start work on the neck. Hugh whacks the head with his bat to try to keep it off of Ev long enough. I do the same for the head that immediately starts growing out of the incision. Cassian drops down to start electrocuting the thing. That's rather dangerous when we're all in the water, but the entire mission is rather dangerous.

Hydra blood splatters us all, and we are nearly knocked in the water by the thrashing tentacles. I manage to decapitate heads as they come out, and Ev nearly has the main head off. The waves crash upon us mercilessly, stinging my skin.

Just as the main head falls, and Cassian shoots lightening at the stump which is trying to form more heads, the tentacles lash out, barbed, horrible tentacles, slapping me into the water.

I feel the tentacles slice my gut open, and then I'm plunged into the cold ocean. The salt water seems to tear apart my wound, and I'm in too much pain even to swim back up.

Cassian dives in, he has me around the waist and is pulling me out of the water. I gasp in the cool night air gratefully, as he deposits me on the deck.

"Is it dead?" Reese is bouncing around.

"Yeah it's dead," Ev says, as Cassian deposits them and Hugh back on the deck.

"Guys?" I say, quietly, looking down at my red shirt which, though soaked, is getting rapidly darker. I feel my own hot blood wash down my legs.

"Shit, shit, shit," those are NOT words you want your doctor to say, let me tell you.

"Compress it—now! Somebody bring me my bag," Ari is gently helping me lay down, his hands sealed over the wounds.

"I can help you cauterize it?" Penny asks.

"No he's split open---it's not that simple," Ari says, his hands still sealed over my gut, "Stay with me now, Jason, stay awake."

"Here," Ev drops the backpack next to us.

"I've got him—I'll hold it," Peter crawls behind me take over compressing the wounds. Blood is bubbling past their hands.

"We can't cauterize it yet. First---I need to sew his stomach closed, and wash it-- his intestines are ruptured," Ari says. That was not information I needed but it's information I now I have.

I'm in so much pain. And really blacking out. What are they gonna tell my dad? He'll be upset. He's not even here. Suddenly I really wish he was. That time I broke my leg, climbing trees he told me not to climb, he carried me all the way back to the house while I cried, telling me it was all right to cry he knew it hurt. He didn't once say he told me not to. He didn't tell me I was bad. Just dried my tears and carried me in his strong arms all the way back to the house.